Temptation

Percy finally found something he was really good at. The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to his every command.

But now that they were out of danger, all he could think about was how much he missed Tyson, and how worried he was about Grover.

They sailed through the night.

Annabeth and Y/N tried to help him keep lookout, but sailing didn't agree with them. After a few hours rocking back and forth, their face turned the color of guacamole and went below to lie in a bed.

They watched the horizon. More than once they spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves-something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. Well, they didn't really want to know.

Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck. They were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.

"One of the forges of Hephaestus," Annabeth said. "Where he makes his metal monsters."

"Like the bronze bulls?"

She nodded. "Go around. Far around."

He didn't need to be told twice. They steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind them.

Percy looked at Y/N for a moment, maybe thinking if he should really brush on the topic. And decided to do it. He asked Annabeth, "The reason you hate Cyclopes so much ... the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?"

It was hard to see her expression in the dark.

"I guess you guys...deserve to know," she said finally, and turned to Y/N, "You more than anyone else. The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?" She told them the whole thing.

"I stabbed him in the foot." she said finishing her story.

They stared at her. Percy broke the silence, "Are you kidding? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?"

"Oh, he would've killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."

"Yeah, but still ... that was pretty brave, Annabeth."

"Yeah, I mean seven year old me was still figuring out how to spell correctly," Y/N said and then chuckled, "I still do."

Annabeth shook her head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares. The way that Cyclops talked in my father's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today."

They sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky.

"Go below," Annabeth told him at last. "You need some rest."

He nodded. His eyes were heavy. But when he got below and found a bed, it took him a long time to fall asleep. He kept thinking about Annabeth's story. He wondered, if he were in her place, would he have had enough courage to go on this quest, to sail straight toward the lair of another Cyclops?

He didn't dream about Grover. Instead he found himself back in Luke's stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda.

Y/N stayed awake with Annabeth.

"Hey..I've got to tell you something," Annabeth said sitting beside her.

"Please, if this is about Harris again-"

"It not him," Annabeth interrupted, "It's...Percy."

"..Percy?" Y/N felt a bit shocked considering Annabeth never really asked her about him ever since they got together, "You need some relationship advice?"

"No it's not that," she chuckled, almost bitterly, "How do I say this...um, please don't misunderstand me."

"Well, depends on what you're about to say to be honest."

"Uh...I know about.." Annabeth cleared her throat, hoping the words would come out easily, but it felt like a thorn stuck in her throat instead, "I know about your feelings...for him."

Y/N felt fear slowly taking over her. She didn't know anything that could make things right between them now. This was Annabeth. She wasn't as easy to fool as Percy.

"D-don't panic. There's nothing to be worried about. I just wanted you to know," Annabeth tried to reassure her.

"How...did you find out?" she asked.

"I just knew it. I mean, your whole body language around him is different. With Harris you're quite open but him. You maintain a distance," Annabeth explained, "I don't know how to explain it. But we have been friends for sometime so I think I just knew it."

"Then do you know how long I've had these feelings for?"

Annabeth kept quiet. Suddenly the atmosphere felt heavier. Y/N was feeling many things all at once. A sense of fear that their friendship might change. A sense of guilt for liking her boyfriend. But she understood what she felt the most at the moment when Annabeth felt nauseous and ran towards the railing, bending down and puking out.

Y/N was hurt and angry. It felt sick to know that her first friend in the camp knew about everything but still decided to do it anyway. But apart from her feelings, her brain was still working. She wanted to believe that Annabeth couldn't throw it all away when they don't have a guaranteed long life. And maybe it was better since Percy wasn't heartbroken. They looked good together like everyone said, right?

She got up and walked towards Annabeth who was emptying her stomach, and offered her a bottle of water. "Sorry. I don't have control over it yet," she said.

Annabeth took the water bottle as Y/N sat down again, looking at the sky. Hearing hurried footsteps, she saw Annabeth run down. A part of her was scared that maybe she went there to tell Percy what she did to her. But well, her friend wasn't heartless...in most cases. She got up after a while when the boy came up on the deck.

"Land," Annabeth informed, "We're approaching the island of the Sirens." There was no time to be bitter about it when lives were at stake on their quest.

They could barely make out the island ahead -just a dark spot in the mist.

"I want you to do me a favor," Annabeth said, "The Sirens ... we'll be in range of their singing soon."

Y/N remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.

"No problem," Percy assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck-" Y/N immediately ran down to get it.

"I want to hear them."

Percy blinked. "Why?"

"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive ... you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"

Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was-well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, the Sirens would appeal to her, too.

As Y/N was ready with the tub, Annabeth told them her plan. Reluctantly, they helped her get ready. Her plan made Y/N think about it too.

As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, Percy ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth's waist, and on Y/N's request, her waist too, tying them to the foremast. Y/N wanted to hear the siren sing. She was just worried she would be tempted to see what she desired the most. As a lover of music, she wanted to know how they sound.

"Don't untie me," Annabeth said, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."

"Are you trying to tempt me?"

"Ha-ha."

Percy promised to keep them secure. Then he took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed his ears. He did the same for Y/N, promising her to let her listen just a little bit.

The silence was eerie. He couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in his head. As they approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. He willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to skirt around them. If they sailed any closer, those rocks would shred their hull like blender blades.

Percy glanced back. Y/N had her eyes closed. And as for his girlfriend, at first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened.

She strained against the ropes. She called their name. Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free.

Percy forced himself to look away. He urged the Queen Anne's Revenge to go faster.

He still couldn't see much of the island-just mist and rocks-but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes.

How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made him want to take a fiery nosedive, but still ... What could the Sirens possibly sing about?

For one dangerous moment, he understood Y/N's curiosity. He was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. He could feel the Sirens' voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in his ears.

Annabeth was pleading. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about.

"How could you be so cruel?", she seemed to be asking him, "I thought you were my friend."

Percy glared at the misty island. He wanted to uncap his sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song? He tried hard not to look at Annabeth. And managed it for about five minutes.

When he couldn't stand it any longer, he looked back and found ... Y/N struggling to get out of her ropes. She somehow managed to pull off her earplugs. Beside her was a heap of cut ropes. An empty mast. Annabeth's bronze knife lay on the deck. Somehow, she'd managed to wriggle it into her hand. He'd totally forgotten to disarm her. He kicked off the knife away from Y/N's reach and rushed to the side of the boat and saw Annabeth, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.

He screamed her name, but if she heard him, it didn't do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death.

He looked back at the pilot's wheel and yelled, "Stay!" Percy noticed Y/N now banging her head and trying her best to get out, reaching out for any sharp object that might help her.

"Maybe if she screamed loud enough, she'll stop hearing the sirens sing," he thought to himself, looking at her and then jumped over the side, slicing into the water, leaving his devastated restless friend on the ship.

[ TIME SKIP ]

They stayed underwater, following the ship, until Percy judged that the voices of the sirens must be faint now. Then he surfaced and their air bubble popped. He was already thinking of the worst possible scenario with Y/N. But he didn't feel her drop off the ship into the sea so, he had some hope that she was still up there. His heart was slamming on his chest as his mind was only focused on her condition.

He ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and they climbed aboard. He kept his earplugs in, just to be sure. As he reached up on the deck, Annabeth sat down huddled in a blanket on the forward deck, ears shut with the candle-wax like Percy. He searched for Y/N and found her lying near the edge, slowly crawling towards the sea, her forehead and hands bleeding. She was still in a daze with tears streaming down her face and staring at the sirens' direction. She looked tired but still determined. Percy hurriedly went to her, noticing the broken and other stuffs on the ship. Just like he expected, she did use her voice. How she got out and injured herself was still a mystery to him.

He picked up her crawling body, and forced her to face him, trying to reassure her. But he couldn't get his words out at first. After a moment, he finally focused on her expression. She looked broken. She wasn't exactly as energetic as Annabeth. Maybe she probably used all of her energy to get out. "Let me go, please..." she muttered, hands tightly holding onto his shirt, "I'm only asking you for one little thing. I-I never.."

Percy wished they could get out of the island's reach faster. It broke his heart to find her this way. He didn't even have the courage to refuse her. How could he? He never saw her this way. She was always smiling, the ray of light among them. So he took another path instead. "Shh...hey, hey, just focus on me," he said, "I'll take you there. You just...need to close your eyes and trust me."

"...Trust you?", she said. He slowly pulled her up as her eyes focused on his sea-green ones. "No...you're lying."

She started struggling trying to get away from him. He was just glad that she was way to focused on the sirens to use her powers on him. He sighed looking at her. It wasn't gonna work this way.

"Sorry Y/N," he said and grabbed her from behind, pushing her to walk down where he would probably have to knock her out if the situation got out of hand. On the way though, Y/N started using all her strength, trying to make him stop. She whined, feeling too weak to scream. As they got near her bed, he pushed her down, as she struggled to get out. His knees separated her legs apart. He didn't exactly want to get kicked down there in all of this. Finally looking at her face, he felt her grow weaker each second, she stopped struggling and bit his left arm which were holding onto hers. Percy shouted out a curse and removed his hand.

Big mistake.

Y/N knew how to defend herself even using her one hand. She immediately stuck up her hand and dug her thumb in his left eye. He slapped her hand back down and finally she stopped moving completely, only tears streaming down her face. Her face was red for all the crying.

Oh.

He realized how close they were at the moment. He needs to stop her from crying anymore. He...wanted to. Slowly, he bent down near her face, until their foreheads were touching. She looked at him and cried, "You lied to me." She still didn't care about how close they were, their noses were touching now. It felt like she was finally going to drop off to sleep.

"Sorry," he said and tilted his head. He looked at her face and found that she finally stopped crying. Her eyes were full of curiosity staring at his small movements, and her lips trembling.

He couldn't get out of it. There was no voice of any siren drawing him in, but he still gave into the temptation.

And kissed her. It felt like time had slowed down and the sound of sea waves felt clearer than before. The sun shone brighter and he could hear the whistles of the wind. He could feel it. They were finally out of sight of the island.

He pulled back and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, and body still. She finally gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep. And an alarm rang in his mind, he shot up from her bed and stared at her. The realization dawned on him about what he did. A sense of fear took over him, along with some guilt. But then he remembered what he saw when he touched Annabeth.

Brushing his hair in annoyance, he walked back up on the deck. Annabeth looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe. "You could've just used wax to shut her ears, you know," she said.

"And you could've offered me some after you put it on. She was near the edge. You really think I had the time to look for it?" Percy said, his voice laced in irritation.

Annabeth muttered, "...you saw it, didn't you."

"Yes," he turned to look away into the sea, "Atleast patch her up. We'll talk about it later."

Annabeth nodded silently and went down.

Percy sat down sighing. He thought about what he did moments ago. How was he any better than her? Oh wait, yes. It happened cause it was the only way to stop Y/N as words were useless against her anyway.

He shook his head and tried to think of something else. A distraction.